Portable pneumatic elevating device



March l 1927.

- 1,619,277 W. B. THEMANN PORTABLE PNEUMATIC ELEVATING DEVICE Filed 0G11E 17, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mer. 1, 1927.

unirse As'ra'iss WLLAIVI B.l THIEMANN, OF .ALBERT CITY, IOWA.

PORTABLE PNEUMATC ELEVATIIIG DEVICE.

Application filed October 17, 1922. Serial No. 595,164.

This invention relates to improvements in pneumatic elevating devices such as used in connection with ensilage cutters and the like and may be used` for elevating ensilage or grain, such asshelled corn or oats.

The object of my invention is to provide a pneumatic elevator of simple, durable and inexpensive construction which is adapted to be moved from place to place, and which is easily and quickly placed into an operative position.

A urther'object is to provide in a port-l able pneumatic elevating device employing a centrifugal fan, improved means for feeding material into the centrifugal fan in such a manner that a minimum amount ot power is required to elevate the material at a givenk height.

A further object is to provide a pneumatic elevator having acentritugal blower so constructed lthat it a portion of the material should remain inthe blower after it has become stopped, the centrifugal member may be operated and brought to its Working velocity without slugging or cloggingthe same.

A still further object/is to provide ina portable device having a pivoted receiving conveyor `l'or feeding material to the elevating device, improved means for driving` the said auxiliary conveyor and for automatically throwing the same out of gear when the said portable elevator has `been swung to a certain position of its movement.

Thesey and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction,

arrange-nient and combinationk of the various parts of the device. whereby the obiects con-l teinplated are attained, ashereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanyingr drawings, in which: Y

Figure 1 is an end elevation of my improved' elevating device showing one of the supporting wheels broken away and aV portion of one of the traine members, for,y the purpose of illustrating other `part-s.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the right hand side ot' the device asshown in Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view of the blower casing taken on the line 35-3 of Fig-y ure 1. 1

Figure 4 is Van enlarged detailsectional view showing the mechanism for driving the f auxiliary conveyor.

My improved elevating device is carried by artrame member 10 which comprises 'a set of horizontallyl arranged and parallel If beams 11, the back end ofY the said I beams being supported by a transverse member 12, each of its ends being extended downwardly and outwardly to form a sort of brace and for supporting the niembers`11 at the' proper height above the axle 13, the ends of the downwardly extending members being secured to the axle by means of bolts 14 extending thro-ugh a seriesof holes 15 which provides means whereby the frame members 11 may be brought within a horizontal plane even though the wheels 16 of the axleA 13 rest on uneven ground.,

The `forward ends of the members 11 are ing a vertically arranged shaft 18 rotatively mounted therein. The lowerend of the shaft' 18 is provided with downwardly extending fork members 19, the lower ends of each of the members 19 being provided with a slot 2O which is designed to receive an axle 21 supported bv a wheel 22. A

The axle 21 isadjustahly connected with the lower Vends of the members 19 by means of bolts 23. members 19 is provided with a series of holes 211 which are designed to receive a bolt 25 for the purpose oit securing the tongue plates 2G in position, the'plates 26 being mounted on a tongue 27 which is of the ordinary construction.

By this vit will be seen that I have Vprovided a supporting frame mounted on three whereby the traine may be turned around inf verysmall places, which is a very desirable feature in devices of this kind.

Mounted adjacent to the inner face oit each ofthe members 11 I have provided a disk rlhe upperv end of thev ork ice 28 which forms the sides of the pneumatic blower. The disks 28 have three-fourths of their periphery' on the ai'c of a circle, and the other fourth rectangulan'the Vends of the circular portion of the periphery terminat-y ing in tangent lines intersecting at'right angles to eachV other'.

'lhe peripheryr of the disks QS are providedwith a cylindrieal plate 2li having its edges 4provided with flanges 30 for the purpose ol receiving rivets 3l, said rivets' extending through the edge of the plates ih :1nd said flanges in sueh a manner th et :i suhstantially hollow cylindrical lower casingY is formed. The top portion o'li' the plete Q5) is shorter than the top horizontal edge of the members 2S so as to forni an openingv SQ 'for the disehnrgeof the materiel from within the blower easing.

The opening 32 is i'lrovided with n llenge nienilier 33t-o which a short section of a tuhe 34 is secured hy means oil suitable riveist or bolteithe upper end `ot the tuhe 3' heini;r provided with e fiange `to which the or dinary blower pipe may he delaehahlv se cured. i p

Rotatively mounted eentralljvv within the blower easing I havel provided a. 'lun Sli which `is substantially ol3 the ordinary coin strnctionsnid 'fan being mounted ou n shalt 3T which extends through the plates 25% and is rotutively mounted in suilalile hearings 3S secured to the -rnn1e ineinliers l'l. One end ofthe shaft 37 is provided with a lielt pulley S9 hy which the `fan is driven 'from im)7 convenient power.

One` ofthe hearings 3S is provided with n gear casing 470 designed to receive worin gear all secured to the outer end ot the shaft 37. i l i Arranged nliove the shaft 3T und transversely therewith and `within the casing 4,0 I have provided a shaft Ll2 which ie designed to carry a worm gear #lf3 in ineen with the worm 41./ one end ot the shalt 1-t2 being provided with a hearing; `ineniliier fifi secured to theii'ranie '10. The opposite end of the shuit 42 is provided with a lilearino' klli intermediate its ends.

The hearing' ineinlier 45 has ils outer l'aee provided with a series ot teeth Alll designed to loe` engaged by eoacting teeth -illT ol a rotary member' 4S which is rotativelv mounted on the Shaxltill. The ineniheiwlt provided with an arni 49 having' alaterall'v ertei'iding; portion `5l).

The member 478 is designed to rotutiveljg` receive one end ot' nieluteh sleeve ineinher 5l, the other end o'lt which is-provided with a series ot teeth 52 designed to (fonct with :i similar set of teeth in the huh :fitti of a sprocket wheel `54, which rotativellv mounted on the outer end ot' the sha lilV n collar 55 being provided to prevent the sprocket 54 frommovinglongitndinell5Y with the shaft 42. A spring;r 5o isins-'erted hetween the huh 53 and the coller 5l, so the teethv 52 andthosfe of the huh 52E may he yieldingly separnted. i

In this eonnectionit will he seen that it the lever 49 is rotated in a eountereloekwise direction, when viewed troni the leit't hand end of the shaft ft2, iis shown in Figure Lil, the teeth el? will he moved out ot engage nient withthe outer end o'l the teeth in and allowed to enter hetween the Said teeth Ll-tl. The spring 5G will then move the Collar 5l sind the clutch inenilier L'i8 to the riht7 as shown in Figure 4, therehy causing' the teeth 52 and theicoaetingr teeth of the huh 5?) to disengage each other, and the sprocket wheel 541- tl'n'ownout of gear withthe eliarlft l2, lhe coller .3l being' rotated with the shaft Ll2 h v means ot the spline 57. p

For feedingr the material inlo the lilower casino', I have provided an opening 5S, in one of the plates 28. This opening); is formed prfiterahly square or rectangular with ite` lop edlre helowthe shaft and its lower edge nhove the bottoni of the lower easing, the center ot' the openingr heiner situated to one side of a vertical plaine through the center ot the shaft 3T, and toward the opposite side lroni which the opening' lloceurs, in such n nianner that the vertical i'iluue through the shalt 2li' would pase substantially through the opening' 58 a distance l'roln the edge clol'est to the opening `F32 equal to `one-third ol the width or horizontal dinleneions ol' the opening. These proportioijie can he slightly varied Without materially oili'eeting; the operation o'f the device. I have iound liv actual experiment that h v locating; the, opening 58 at substantially this position` a larger ainount oi material will he delivered with `a given` amount o'll power then any other position in which it may enter the blower casing.

Ilereto'fore it has been con'nnon practice to provide the intake opening eoncentricallv with the 'l'ansupportingr shaft, hut l lind that u very large, zunount ol power ie required to operate the device when unile 'izil ifi thue 'liedrdue lo the 'feet thatlhe innteriiil thus 'led roes into the mening conventricnll)y with the center oil the shnft, and the sur tion created hy the sinne iflrnws: the, lneterial through the opening; The material then deli veredin all directions to the outer plate Z9 hv eelitrilingal ioree. That is port ol the lnoterial would lie tln'owi'l upwardly egainet the top portion, piug't of it ogni! *t the side `portione and part olif it against the bottoni portions ot the plete All el?` the. Inuterial that thrown to the top portion, when the vfen is driven in a connter-eloclwise direction, ns ehown in Finn ure 3, will be dragging' against the plate QS) from the :point A tothe point l5, at which tinie itpwill their he delivered uiinvardly to the openingr 32. Not onlji7 does the niaterial drag agninet the plete 29, lintelsohas a tenH dene/y to hind und clog between the outer edges of the tan bladen and the said plete, therebyT increasing' the amount ot' power required to discharge the material due to the excessive friction.

ofi

lll-7 lill lll 'Il eliminated this diiculty,

I find that when ,material is delivered through an opening located as illustrated in the drawings'that the material is delivered into the casing between the fan blades. As the material is moving inwardly, it is moving in a path transverse with the movement of the fan blades.

On account of the rapid movement of the said blades, a large amount of material is actually engaged by the sid blades before' it has even fallen to the plate 29,l the inertia of the material causing it to engage the fan blades until the blades have traveled 'through an angle Vrot' about ninety degrees, or until they have reached the point B. The centrifugal force by thistimer is moving the material toward the outer edges ot the tan blades. As it will be seen, it is not only'moved outwardly, but itis thrown directly upwardly through the opening 32. Inother words, the fan acts on the impact principle as well as the principle of centrifugal force. y v x By providing lthe, end oi the top of the plate 29 horizontal or in a plane at right angles to the vertical port-ion of the plate 29 instead ot'bringing the end' of the top portion of the plate on a curve,'as is the usual practice, I have eliminated the clogging and slugging of the material at this point, which has heretofore been a serious objection in devices of this kind.

I-Ieretofore it has been necessary tol operate the fan until all of the material has been discharged from the' blower casing. @ther-l wise, when it is desired to start the fan in opera-tion, the material within the bottom or the casing will follow the fan blades around, and the centrifugall force not being sufficient 'to discharge the material upwardly through t-he outer end of the discharge pipe, it would fall back, collect and gather at the point C, as ordinarily constructed.

By providing the end of the upper portionV ot theplate at rightvangles to the vertical portion o'l' the plate 29, I have largely as this provides plenty oi room at this point where the material may fall back over the outer edges ot' the fan blades or between them toward the center of the shaft 37.

For discharging material into the opening 58, I have provided a' conveyor 59 mounted in a trough 60, the said trough being designed to lie, when in an operative position, horizontal and on rthe ground surface. The arrangement of this trough, however, is common in other devices of this character.

The inner end of the trough is pivoter to downwardly extending frame members 61 secured adjacent to each side of the opening 58, by means of a shaft 62. l One endot the shaft 62 is provided with a. sprocket wheel 63 in line with the sprocket wheel 54. The sprocket wheels 54 and 63 are provided with a chain 64. The shaft 62 yis operatively connected with a conveyor 59 in the lusual manner.,

By pivoting the trough 60 to the member 61, I have provided means whereby the said trough may be moved to a vertical position l'or the purpose of permitting loaded wagons to be driven` adjacent to `the side of the blower, after which the trough is lowered to its horizontal position back of the loaded wagon to receive* the materia-l from the wagon box. i

In the side members 65 of the trough 60 I have provided notches 66 for the purpose of permitting the said trough to assume a vertical position without engaging the conveyor driving mechanism, as shown in dotted lines in Figure l. Each side'of the opening 58 is provided with side plates 67 which are for the purpose or' covering the notches 66 and y preventing the material from being discharged through the'said notches as it is delivered to the opening 58.

IVhen the trough 60 is moved to its vertical position, the conveyor member 59 is in vsuch position that it will engagethe box'- mg member 40,7 and would beV broken unless means was provided'for automatically throwing the conveyor out of gear. For this purpose I have Vprovided the members 49and 50 and the clutch device operated thereby, as bei-'ore described.

It will be seen that as the trough is moved to a vertical position that the upper edge of one of ,the members 65 will engage the member 50 and move it in such position as will effect the spring 56 and hence throw the Vsprocket 54 out ot operative relation with the Vshaft 42, and thereby provide ymeans for automatically throwing the con# veyor out of gear.

The device may be thrown in gear by moving the member 50 outwardly. Y This provides means for manually throwing the conveyor' 59 into and out otgear at the will ot' the operator. y n

Thus it will be seen vthat I havelv provided a pneumatic elevator or blower of comparaT tively-simple, durable and `inexpensive construction which may be easily moved from one position to another, and which 5requires a minimum amount of power for its operation, and also being provided with means whereby it will not slug o1' clog up easily.

The device may be used for elevating the various kinds of materials, such as small grain, shelled corn or ensilage, and is particularly designed to be used for the purpose of elevating ensilage into silos to be used in connection with that type of an ensilage harvester which harvests and cuts the ensilage in the field.

n I claim as my invention:

l. In a device of the class described, a cylindrical blower casing, a drive shaft passlli ing through said casing, a fan on said drive sha'l't, a drive pulley drive shaft, a second shat't arranged transversely to the other end of said drive shaft, means tor imparting movement from said drive shaittto said transversely arranged shait't, a sprocket wheel rotatively mounted on one end` of said transverse shaft, said sprocket Wheel including a clutch member, a second clutch member slidably mounted onsaid transverse shaft designed to coaet with the first said clutch member, means for yieldinglyholding said clutch members normally in contact, a rotatable member mount ed on s'aidtransverse shaft 'for moving said second clutch member out of engagement with said first clutch member, an arm mounted on said rotatable member, a seo ond transverse shalt parallel with said tra nsi hatt, a conveyor pivotally mounted on said second shaft and capable of movement from a horizontal to a vertical posi tion, a sprocket wheel mounted on one end o t'` said` second transverse sliait, a chain for said sprocket wheels, and` said members be ing so arranged; that when the conveyor moved from a horizontal to a vertical position the operation of the said conveyor is stopped.` i

Q. In a device ofthe class described, a cylindrical blower easing, said casing being provided with a discharge opening and an intake opening mounted in one end of: the casing between its renter and its periphery, a drive sha'lt passing through said easing, a fan on said drive shaft,a drive pulley on one end of said drive shaft, a second sha'tt arral'iged transversely to the other end oi said drive sha-ft and above said intake opening, means tor imparting movement from said drive shaft to said trai'isversely ar ranged shaft, a sprocket wheel rotafively mounted on one end of said transverse shaft, said sprocket wheel including a clutch member, a second clutch member slidably mounted onsaid transverse shaft designed to coact with the lirst said clutch member, means for yieldingly holding said clutch` members normally in contact, a rotative member on one end o't'. said mounted on said transverse shaft for moving said second clutch member out of engagement with said first clutch member, an arminounted on said rotative member, a second transf verse shaft` parallel with saidi transverse shaft, and below said intake opening, a. conveyor pivotally mounted on said second shaft and capable of movement Jfrom a horizontal to a vertical position, a sprocket Wheel mounted on one end of said second transverse shaft., a chain for said sprocket wheels, and said members being so arranged that when the conveyor is moved from a horin zontal to a vertical position the operation ot the said conveyor is stopped.

3. .ln a device oi the class described, a blower including a tan, means for operating said fau, a conveyor tor `feeding mate rial tothe said blower, said conveyor havingl one end pivoted and designed to swing iti-om a horizontal to a vertical position, means for operating said conveyor, driven from said :fan operating means, said last means inehuling a hand-actuated clutch for thrmvin the conveyor into and out oit' operation, said conveyor and said clutch being so located that when the` conveyor is moved to a` vertical position the clutch vvill antomatically throw the conveyor out of operation. i

1l. In a device of the class described, a blowercasing, a tan within the casing, means 'tor ope-retina' said famsaid casing having an openingin` one end, a trough having one end pivotedi adjacent to said opening, said trough being designed to swing :from a horizout/al to a vertical position, a conveyor within said trough `lor 'feeding material to said opening, means driven from the :lian driving means tor actuating said conveyor, the last said means including a hand actie ated clntch tor throwing the conveyor into and out ot operation, said parts being so arranged that as the conveyor is moved to a vertical position said clutch Will he actuated thereby to throw the conveyor autoniatically out o'l operation.

WILLIABT lili '1 HIEMANN. 

